How to implement a UX research cycle in a time-framed project

Anna Kędzierska, UX Research Leader & UX Designer

At Artegence and Efigence, we believe that even the highest quality of expertise in UX Design cannot replace research. Combined forces of UX Designers, UI Designers and UX Research experts give our clients - and us - opportunities to grow great products that REALLY suit user needs.

Just a few years ago, clients didn’t have specific requirements towards research, nor towards the design process. Now, things have changed – both research & the design phase are precisely time-specified and we have to make sure that we meet all requirements before the deadline. In order to do so and still fully benefit from UX research, we started using a periodic research cycle.

To be sure we are heading in the right direction, we strongly advocate including periodic research as an integral part of the design process. One good inspiration for it is the RITE method. First introduced by Medlock, Wixon, Terrano, Romero and Fulton from Microsoft, is founded on the idea of a fast-as-you-can assessment of solutions chosen by designers. In the original form, it is based on constant research of interfaces and it allows the design to be changed even after observing one participant. There are also such schemes as rapid research, outlined by Heidi Sales from Google, who describes constant, agile research within a product company.

In our case, we usually work with our clients in specified time-frame. To fully use the potential of research, we frequently recommend a time-varied, two-iteration research cycle. We recommend using a one-day usability testing session to gather observations from five or six users, prepare recommendations, implement changes and re-assess the changed interface in the next research iteration. We believe that this kind of research cycle can bring us great results in a shorter time.

How to organize it

In order to implement this model, you need to make sure the whole team understands and supports the idea of fast, iterative changes backed by research data.

Then, together, you should agree on how to organize each of the iteration phases so that every member feels they have enough time to prepare his/her part of the work.

Recommended iteration phases are:

Scope definition – together with the team, define what you want to check during this iteration and who should be recruited as a participant.

Scenario & prototype preparation – this is a phase where the UX Designer & UX Researcher should cooperate very closely while preparing the flow of the research session from a visual and spoken perspective.

Research session I – the UX Researcher conducts the interviews, the UX Designer can take part as an observer.